On a picture-perfect morning for college baseball, the Missouri Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs would open the second round of the 2026 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament. Missouri, fresh off a 10-8 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday, while Mississippi State would be just beginning its postseason journey.  

Coming into the game with Missouri on Wednesday, Mississippi State was in a safe position to host a Starkville Regional next week, but would need some work to be a top-eight national. With that, the Mississippi State coaching staff decided to go with their ace on Wednesday as Tomas Valincius got the starting role against the Tigers. 

With Tomas Valincius on the mound for Mississippi State, Missouri would go with Brady Kehlenbrink as the starter to navigate the difficult Mississippi State lineup. Brady would give Missouri 4.1 innings of really good pitching, allowing 4 runs (only 1 earned), 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Sam Rosand would be his replacement in the bottom of the 5th inning. 

Missouri would jump out to an early 1-0 lead over Mississippi State with a solo shot from Kam Durnin to deep center field in the top half of the first inning. Ryder Woodson would add three runs to the scoreboard for Mississippi State in the bottom half of the second inning with a three-run shot that scored Bryce Chance and Jacob Parker to take a 3-1 lead over Missouri. Missouri would cut the lead to 3-2 in the top half of the 5th inning with a fielding blunder from the Mississippi State defense. In the bottom half of the 5th inning, Mississippi State had the bases loaded with no outs and somehow only managed to score a single run, extending the lead to 4-2 over Missouri. Vytas Valincius would power an eight-run bottom of the 6th inning for Mississippi State with a solo shot, and another three-run home run to extend the Mississippi State lead to 12-2 over Missouri heading into the top half of the 7th inning. Mississippi State would complete the run ruling of Missouri by hammering down three outs in three batters in the top half of the 7th, advancing to play Georgia on Wednesday. 

Overall thoughts on the game for Mississippi State were: a win is a win; the 6th inning was the difference-maker; although not perfect, a win is a win. Now the focus shifts to a Georgia team that came into Dudy Noble Field and swept the Bulldogs last month. Mississippi State will have its hands full, as Georgia has only gotten better with time, but the Bulldogs have the offensive firepower to keep up with Georgia. It’ll likely come down to the pitching not giving up anything major early in the game. One might expect Thursday’s matchup between Georgia and Mississippi State might have all the feels of a College World Series game, as both fan bases will travel in numbers to Hoover for the afternoon game, while the action on the field will likely deliver a really good baseball game between the two. 

For Missouri, the season might have come to an end with the loss to Mississippi State, but that doesn’t mean the future of Missouri Baseball isn’t something that deserves the hype that it will get in the offseason. Might not show in the record books after this season, but the signs of improvement are there for Missouri, and honestly, with enough guys coming back and their development, Missouri could be in a position next year to compete for a Regional bid. Just recently, they went on the road and swept Kentucky, then came into the SEC Tournament and stunned the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday morning, and hung with Mississippi State until the bottom of the 6th inning, then they simply ran out of gas. Changing a culture takes time; Missouri will be back in contention sooner rather than later. Trust the process and allow time for the coaching staff to do what they’re going to do, unlike a South Carolina, which quit midway through the season. Missouri never quit this season, and the gradual improvements to the team as a whole were noticeable as of late. 

Mississippi State will continue the journey on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 PM with a showdown with the Georgia Bulldogs. 

Photo Credits: Missouri and Mississippi State baseball on X